This year, the audience of The ARTmania Festival, will meet two of the most appreciated Symphonic Metal bands, which have never performed before in Sibiu: Haggard, the ensemble that changed the general perception over metal, through a classical, renaissance and medieval approach, will be added on the festival`s poster together with Xandria, the German band that successfully combines Modern Rock with more spiritual musical themes. Friday 9th of August we will listen to Haggard and Amaranthe in the Large Square and meet Orphaned Land and Xandria on Saturday 10th.
During more then 20 years of activity, Haggard has performed all over the world, acquiring huge popularity and an extensive fan base through their outstanding shows. We are proud to host such an intense live act at the eight edition of the ARTmania Festival. Haggard is the eclectic musical ensemble led by Asis Nasseri, an exceptional artist of Afghan and German descent, who writes all the songs, sings, plays guitars and percussions. Founded in Munich in 1989, Haggard was to become one of the first Classical-Orchestral-Symphonic-Metal acts in the world.
A group of about twenty well-skilled musicians, playing classical and medieval instruments like cello, flute, oboe, harp, violin, a piccolo or a timpani, amazingly combine soft passages and dreamy female voices with iron and guitar riffs, growling male vocals and more aggressive metal rhythms, building up a sophisticated sound and performance. Still unpolished during the first phase of its evolution, the Haggard style vividly detached on the international musical scene through unique compositions and authentic lyrics inspired by unprecedented themes like the history of Europe in Middle – Ages, the prophecies of Nostradamus on the second album – „Awaking the Centuries“ (2000) – or the life of Galileo Galilei, on „Eppur Si Muove“ (2004).
„Tales of Ithiria“, Haggard`s latest material, features a fantasy story created by the band leader and performed in English, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish. The record focuses a lot on the narrative parts, harmoniously interwoven with a perfect arrangement of instruments and chorus interventions.
The forth German band to have announced its participation at The ARTmania Festival 2013 unifies modern rock with mystic soundscapes into a soundtrack of a different world: Xandria. A national premiere act in the Large Square of Sibiu, Xandria will perform in a new formula, with Steven Wussow, the new bass player and Manuela Kraller as a vocal, who was once part of Haggard`s traveling parade, as a soprano.
Founded in 1994 at the initiative of Marco Heubaum, Xandria is a symphonic metal project from Germany that took a lot of years to define its style and find its way of expression. In the band’s incipient period, Marco created alongside talented artists; Xandria received excellent musical press reviews all over Germany, and in 2001 became “Best Newcomer of the Year” with the demo disk “Kill the Sun”, featuring the amazing voice of Lisa Middelhauve.
The official debut album ”Kill the Sun”, released by Drakkar Records in May 2003 has been praised worldwide, both musically and lyrically, its success being amplified by exotic themes and Middle Eastern motifs. After the release of the „Salome – The Seventh Veil” (2007), considered to be the band’s finest album, Xandria emerges stronger than ever with „Neverworld’s End” and the addition of vocalist Manuela Kraller, who joined the band in 2010.
Xandria will go on the stage of ARTmania Festival 2013, promoting „Neverworld’s End“, its newest studio album, the first to feature Manuela Kraller on vocals. Unlike its first ten years, when Xandria was leaning closer to gothic metal with a touch of electro, „Neverworld’s End” represents a major shift in the band’s sound, reaching a higher level of complexity in the realm of Symphonic Metal.
Along 8 years, ARTmania Festival brought together artists from all over the world, promoting the intercultural exchange in one of the most beautiful medieval citadels in Eastern Europe: Sibiu. With the support of its faithful partners and allies, ARTmania cultural platform was able to offer art amateurs a varied cultural program of concerts, exhibitions, workshops and other events dedicated to the fine arts. In 2013, ARTmania Festival takes place between 5th and 11th of August and is co-financed by the local Council of Sibiu through the Town Hall and the Cultural House of Sibiu Municipality.
Tickets for The ARTmania Festival Sibiu 2013 are now available and can be purchased worldwide on shop.artmania.ro and for the Romanian public in Eventim network and myticket.ro, for 80 lei/full pass, and for 70 lei/day pass until the end of February, reaching 150 lei/full pass and 100 lei/day pass in the festival week.
Follow www.artmaniafestival.ro and facebook.com/ARTmania.Festival for the latest news.
